Twitter wars between GOP, Hugh Hefner over Democrat Loretta Sanchez

by Kitty Felde

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A view of Playboy Magazine publisher Hugh Hefner's property, the Playboy Mansion, as seen on 11 January 2007 in Beverly Hills. Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

In the arsenal of political weapons, Twitter is the BB gun. Republicans are firing “tweets” at an Orange County Democrat over the king of the Playboy empire.

It began when Hugh Hefner alerted his Twitter fans that Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez was having lunch at the Playboy mansion. Hefner described himself as a “longtime supporter” of the Anaheim Democrat.

The Republican National Congressional Committee tweeted back, complaining that Sanchez could make time to lunch with Hefner – but not to “meet w/voters or accept a debate challenge.”

The sniping continued in 140 character shots. Hefner popped one back at the Republicans, saying that Sanchez was “taking care of business” since the luncheon was a fundraiser. The GOP fired back with this: “Rep-Lo” – like J. Lo, get it? – “Rep-Lo just doesn’t want 2 talk jobs.”

This isn’t the first time Loretta Sanchez has been zinged for her friendship – but at least this time, it’s the other party doing the zinging. A decade ago, she got bumped off the roster as a speaker at the Democratic National Convention when she refused to cancel a larger fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion.